


The High Road

by FaithAndATypeWriter



Series: The Great Pretender Series [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's Got Her Back, Bullying, F/M, Lila Exposing Herself, Lila salt, Marinette Appreciation, exposing lila
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 10:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19105042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaithAndATypeWriter/pseuds/FaithAndATypeWriter
Summary: Marinette's enduring positivity and confidence has Lila seething.  Lila always gets what she wants, but what she wants now is to ruin the interloper that tried to undermine her fame.  When it becomes obvious that Marinette won't provide Lila an opportunity to make her rival look bad, Lila decides to create one herself...





	The High Road

**Author's Note:**

> The Chameleon episode riled me up so much that it's one of the reasons I wanted to start writing fan fiction. I think the idea of someone manipulating the truth and those around us not recognizing it hits close to home for most people. While the class's reaction seems pretty ridiculous (as Chloe might say), I feel it serves as a reminder of how easy it is to fall under deception. I also realize Adrien has fallen under heavy scrutiny, and while I admit he seems to have issues with naivety, he also doesn't know the full picture and could easily assume that Lila is acting out of self-esteem issues. Overall, I think Lila's character is shaping up to have a painful backstory that has led to unhealthy behavior that should be addressed and dealt with. For my part, I just like imagining her downfall and the reconciliation of Marinette's friends. Remember Miraculous fans, if you're being bullied or treated in a way that your are unsure about I encourage you to reach out to someone (preferably an adult) that you trust.  
> Blessings!  
> ~FaithAndATypeWriter

Lila was disgruntled to find out that Marinette would be harder to battle than she’d thought.  She was surprised enough that Marinette didn’t back down after she’d threatened her in the bathroom, but she was going to find it satisfying to take the girl down.

 

At first, Lila tried to goad Marinette into making herself look bad by calling out more of her lies.  This was a risky venture, she knew, because there was a slight chance that someone else would recognize one of her stories.  But then again, she had the rest of the class wrapped around her finger, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. And if anyone did question her, she was sure they would be easier to intimidate than Marinette had proven.

 

“My parents hired the most exquisite pastry chefs for our parties back home!” she boasted one day, making sure Marinette was within hearing range.  “They taught me all about how to make fantastic palmiers before we moved to France! The said that my palmiers were so delicious that they just  _ had _ to invite Jacqueline Auguste to taste them herself!  And she said they outshined some professional patisserie products!”

 

Her audience began oooing and aweing and missed her smug expression as she waited for Marinette to take the bait.  Jacqueline Auguste had just had a surge of popularity in Paris after her reviews were used in a TV special done by Nadja Chamack.  And it just so happened that Jacqueline had made a review of the Tom and Sabine Patiserie.

 

Marinette’s eye twitched for a second, but Rose squealed before she could comment.

 

“I love palmiers!”  Rose bubbled. “Do you think that you could bring some to class?”

 

Marinette was visibly trying to control her smirk and she and Adrien shared a raised-eyebrow glance.  Not that anyone noticed, they were all waiting anxiously for Lila’s response. Not good.

 

“Ah, um--” Lila had to think quickly to redirect the heat back to Marinette.  “I would, but Marinette’s family business is in baking! I wouldn’t want to step on her toes!”

 

“Oh, nonsense, Lila!” Marinette smiled.  “I would never feel bad about someone else sharing their baking skills!  Besides, my parents don’t keep palimers on our regular menu, so it would be a treat for me, too!”

 

The class looked at her expectantly.

 

“Oh, I...uh…”

 

“Don’t be shy, Lila!” Adrien said.  “I’m sure we’d all appreciate what you have to share.”

 

“Oh! Of course!”  Lila pasted on a smile.  “I’ll bring them tomorrow!”

 

She’d been so stumped about that failure that she’d had to hold off on any further work until after she’d resolved the palmier incident.  On her way home that day she’d bought a large order of palmiers from Suzette’s Patisserie and placed them a tin she had at home. She made the mistake of not trying one before she placed the order, and when she did taste them she discovered that they were  _ not _ exceptional. In the least.

 

This presented a problem… or an unexpected solution…

 

“Here we are!  My special palmiers, as requested!”  Lila said as she floated into class the next day.

 

As all her classmates swarmed around her, Lila was pleased to see that Marinette had also already arrived for the morning.  She looked a little hesitant to approach her, but with another shared look to Adrien they both took palimers and sat in their seats.  Hmm…

 

Lila watched as Marinette took a big bite of her dessert and her face immediately scrunched up in disgust.  Perfect. Now she just needed to prepare the water works for Marinette’s critique…

 

“Ugh! What’d you make this with? Sand?”

 

Gasps sounded around the room.  But it wasn’t Marinette that had spoken.

 

Lila turned a genuinely stunned expression to Alix as she spit out the pastry into the trash can.

 

“Alix!” Mylene admonished.

 

“I’m sorry, Lila, but that’s awful!” Alix complained.

 

“I...but!” Lila sputtered.

 

As she looked around, most of the others who’d already taken a bite were trying to either hide their grimaces or discreetly spit out the palmier.

 

“Don’t worry, Lila, everyone has their off days!” Lila was horrified to hear this cheerfully optimistic comment from Marinette. “Why, I even know of a place, Suzette’s Patisserie, that is notorious for routinely having trouble with their palmier recipe!  I’m sure next time they’ll turn out great!”

 

Alya naively beamed proudly at her friend.  Meanwhile, Adrien hid a snicker behind his hand.

 

That had backfired horribly!  Not only had Marinette avoided looking bad in front of the class--she ended up looking _supportive_!  And to rub salt into her wound, Adrien and Marinette were now clearly in some sort of agreement about Lila.  It would be harder to target Marinette if she was part of a team.

 

She tried a few more subtle stories in an attempt to raise Marinette’s ire, but each failed.  Clearly, she would have to change her tactics fast before the class forgot about Marinette’s supposed “jealousy” problem.  Though it would require a few sacrifices.

 

Lila prepared her next performance for their art class.  She pleasantly chatted while the others painted their projects and Lila dabbled on her own.  Her unfortunate wrist injury prevented her from  _ truly _ investing herself in her art, afterall.  Which was a shame, considering the personal instruction she’d gotten from several famed artist friends.  When the lunch break finally came around, Lila thanked Sabrina for putting the supplies away for her and used the cover of the class shuffle to work her way to Marinette’s side.  Her prey was too busy gathering her own paint to notice Lila’s approach until it was too late. As soon as Marinette turned around, Lila rammed into Marinette so that her paints would be smashed between their fronts.

 

“Marinette!”  Lila cried as she purposely smeared in the stain while pretending to wipe it off.  “This is my favorite outfit! How could you!”

 

By now, people had gathered around and started to make concerned comments.  Marinette looked stunned, but her face quickly flared a deep red. Again, however, she was spared.

 

“Marinette didn’t bump into you!” Adrien accused.

 

Ah oh.  Adrien looked redder than Marinette.

 

“I’m sure it was just an accident!” Rose added.

 

“Yeah, we all know Marinette’s super clumsy!” Alix added.

 

Marinette rolled her eyes at that comment, but Adrien wasn’t finished.

 

“Clearly she wasn’t trying to spill paint on you!  Look at her outfit! It’s stained more than yours is!” Adrien insisted.

 

Marinette took a deep breath as Alya used a paper towel to dab at her friend’s outfit.  “No big, Adrien!” she said. “Lila, if you change into some clothes from the lost and found or something, than I could take your outfit home with me.  I think I have a stain remover I could try that would fix our outfits up before the end of lunch!”

 

This had the class chiming in about how great Marinette’s idea was and how she was saving the day.

 

“I don’t think that will work…” Lila stammered.  “This material is very delicate and--”

 

“It couldn’t hurt to try would it?” Nino suggested.

 

“Yeah, I mean, that thing’s toast otherwise!” Kim added.

 

“I have an emergency outfit I keep for Chole in my locker, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you borrow it!” Sabrina volunteered.

 

Marinette looked like she was trying to hide her frustration and Adrien still looked angry, but the rest of the class had eager puppy looks plastered to their gullible faces.

 

“That’s so…” Lila gritted her teeth “...kind of you to offer!  I guess I’ll take you up on that!”

 

So Lila changed in to the emergency (and admittedly, much  _ nicer _ ) outfit and Marinette disappeared for the remainder of the lunch hour.  Lila tried to make use of the opportunity to feed disparaging comments about Marinette’s clumsiness to the rest of the class, but they all shrugged off whatever she said and returned with stories about how endearing Marinette and her quirks were.  Lila had to quit while she was behind when she saw that her attempts were actually raising Alya’s defenses. 

 

Chloe threw a hissy fit when she returned from her lunch to discover Lila in one of her designer outfits.  While most of the class just rolled their eyes and glared at Chloe; Sabrina tried to placate her friend and tell her that it was just until Marinette returned.  If only Lila had been trying to turn the class against Chloe, her job would have been done for her.

 

Horror upon horrors occured when Marinette came into class not a minute later.   _ Proudly _ brandishing a Lila’s spotless clothes.

 

“Finally!  At least  _ someone  _ around here is acting somewhat competent!” Chloe proclaimed.  “Even if it  _ is _ Marinette!”

 

Lila was lucky no one noticed her mix of furry and astonishment as they crowded around Marinette’s handiwork.  They took it from her hands and examined it as Marinette leveled a pleased grin at Lila.

 

“Wow, you can’t even see where the stain was!”  Max exclaimed.

 

“This is amazing, Marinette!” Adrien complimented.  “I’m glad you were able to salvage your outfit, too! Didn’t you design it yourself?”

 

Marinette started to stutter a reply that was cut off by Alya.

 

“What did you use on this?”  Alya asked. “I could so use this the next time my little sisters go on a rampage!”

 

“Oh, it’s just an old family secret…” Marinette grinned.  “You could say that it works very miraculously! Just like a charm!”

 

“Whatever it is, you should patent it!” Alya said.  “You’d be raking it in!”

 

Lila took her clothes back to go change and to avoid the cascade of Marinette praise that had been set off in the classroom.

 

Clearly, the class was not bothered by Marinette’s clumsiness.  If she tried the same ploy again it might be too obvious--not to mention Marinette would just get credit for getting rid of the stain again.  She could try something involving the stairs...but she didn’t want to risk  _ actually  _ injuring herself.  Besides, she noticed an unsettling pattern begin where Adrien would suddenly appear at Marinette’s side whenever Lila drew close.

 

She was starting to have trouble coming up with new ideas.  The most effect route would be to make it seem like Marinette was bullying her, but she’d barely spoken to her since the first day of her return and she’d stopped trying to call out her lies.  Lila thought of a few ideas that she could claim Marinette was responsible for, but she didn’t want to suffer through the kind of humiliation those methods would still bring her even if the class did blame Marinette.  She decided to go back to playing the meek character to gain the girls’ sympathy first.

 

Soon an opportunity presented when she caught Alya, Mylene, and Alix talking about organizing a group shopping trip.  Alya saw her hovering and invited Lila to join them, along with Rose, Juleka, and Marinette. Perfect opening.

 

“Oh! I would love to, but I just don’t know…” Lila said demurely.  “I don’t think Marinette would want me around. She hasn’t seemed very happy with my return and I wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable…”

 

“What reason would I have to be uncomfortable, Lila?”

 

Lila practically jumped out of her skin when Marinette suddenly appeared by their side.  

 

“We all know it can be intimidating being the new student in such a close-knit class as ours,” Marinette said, “but there’s no need to feel insecure!  If you want to join us you should!”

 

Lila didn’t know how Marinette managed to look to eagerly perky while sabotaging her sabotage. 

 

The other girls instantly latched onto Marinette’s redirections and rushed to reassure her.

 

“Oh, yes! Don’t be afraid!  You’ll feel at home before you know it!” Mylene enthused.

 

“Yeah!  I was the new girl before you, and let me tell you, girl, you are in great hands!” Alya added.

 

“If Lila takes my place, does that mean I don’t have to go anymore?” Alix asked.

 

Lila was seething--and kept seething for days.  What she wouldn’t have given for Hawkmoth to team up with her then!  Marinette was thwarting her at every turn and seemed to grow even more  _ confident _ every time her plans failed.  Instead of turning her friends against her, Marinette had managed to make herself seem angelic in their eyes.  It was time for Lila to reestablish her intimidation.

 

She carefully planned out her speech and her body language before waiting to get Marinette alone again.  An opportunity was not as easy to find this time. Whatever agreement Adrien and Marinette had seemed to have drawn them closer together.  Now, not only was Adrien seemingly guarding Marinette from Lila, but actually seemed to enjoy her company! He was constantly by her side and  _ laughing _ and  _ blushing _ with her!  The rest of the class seemed to be excited for this and she’d actually been asked if she wanted to join the betting pool on when Adrinette would become official.  Lila was going to have a lot of work to reel Adrien back to her where he belonged.

 

She was starting to get impatient when, finally, she caught Marinette at her locker alone one day.

 

“Marinette.” Lila said in fake politeness.

 

“Lila.”  Marinette didn’t have the same cheerfulness she usually had, but she still projected firm confidence.

 

“You must be getting pretty tired of seeing all your friends fawning over me instead of you,” Lila started.  When Marinette didn’t respond, Lila continued, “After all, I’ve done all these amazing things and know all these amazing people while you’re just...you.”

 

Marinette’s eyes burned in hot anger.  “I don’t have to make up a long list of accomplishments to make myself feel better, Lila.”

 

“Maybe you should start,” Lila said, “you could certainly use the improvement.  The only reason your friends like you is because they feel sorry for you. I’ve heard all about your little ‘clumsy quirks’ as they call it.  Everyday Ladybug? You couldn’t compare to Ladybug’s  _ shadow _ let alone Ladybug herself.”

 

“As Ladybug’s fake best friend, I suppose you should be an expert on that subject.”  Marinette seethed, but there was a dampness in her eyes.

 

“I don’t need to pretend to be Ladybug’s friend for our class to like me better than you!” Lila smirked.  

 

“That’s just the thing, Lila,” Marinette interrupted, “you really  _ didn’t _ need to lie about anything in order for the class to like you!  We would have welcomed you as you are!”

 

“I didn’t want to be  _ welcomed _ ,” Lila sneered, “I don’t need these losers for friends, I just need them to need me.  And they are all  _ too _ eager to need me.  Soon they’re going to need me more than you, and when that happens you’ll be alone again.  Just like before Alya showed up this year, right?”

 

This struck a nerve and Lila could see Marinette struggle with her tears.

 

“Pathetic Marinette,” Lila sighed, “she couldn’t even stand up for herself, let alone anyone else before her bold bestie came along.  And now look at her! All your hard work, and not even your ‘best friend’ that bolstered your warped confidence believed you when you tried to take me on.  Face it, Marinette, sooner or later you’re going to be all alone again. And I won’t even have to lift a finger! Your friends will move on to bigger and better  _ me _ all on their own.”

 

With that Lila decided to make her exit and hope that Marinette attracted an akuma.  Even if Lila couldn’t get her hands on the butterfly herself, she bet Marinette would make a doozy of an akum and Lila could play up Marinette’s bitterness to the class.  Before she pushed past Marinette to the door, Lila decided to slam her locker door closed.

 

And revealed an infuriated Adrien Agreste standing behind it.

 

Both Marinette and Lila jumped to find him standing there, and Marinette craned herself around him to find an angry Alya and Nino standing by the end of the lockers.  Live streaming the conversation from their phones.

 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng is one of the most extraordinary human beings I’ve ever met, and  _ she _ comes by all her accomplishments honestly!”  Adrien yelled--actually yelled--at Lila. “For all the hobnobbing you claim to have done--she’s actually worked with and been commended by people like Jagged Stone and my father!  And  _ she’s _ not only humble about it, she doesn’t  _ brag _ about all the great things she’s done!  But that’s not why we all love her! Marinette is kind, and selfless--she goes out of her way to help those around her!  She could be the most clumsy person in the world and have no famous connections and everyone would still flock to her! Why?  Because she carries herself with respect and compassion! She could be in New York, working with elite fashion designers, but she chose to stay here with her family and friends that she loves and who love her back!”

 

Adrien leaned in close to Lila, stepping in front of Marinette and shielding her.  Marinette could actually  _ feel _ a sense of rage pouring out of Adrien.

 

“Marinette doesn’t need anyone else’s help to justify herself or to defend herself against a manipulator like you,” Adrien lowered his voice to a dangerous simmer, “but you can bet there will be a long line of people volunteering to protect her from you--and it’ll start behind me!  If you ever speak to, speak about, attack, or come near Marinette again I will make sure take you’re down by any means necessary.”

 

Lila stared in shock, glancing between Adrien and the phones.  There had to be a way out of this…

 

Alya and Nino looked like they were about to chime in with their own words, but the door suddenly opened and Principal Damocles came in.

 

“Ms. Rossi,” Mr. Damocles said gruffly, “my office, immediately!  I think a conversation with your mother is long overdue.”

 

Lila stumbled past the others as she followed the principal out the door.

 

As soon as the door closed her friends descended on Marinette.

 

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked.

 

“Marinette!  I’m am so sorry!  She was right, I was a horrible friend!”  Alya cried.

 

“I can’t believe she was playing us the whole time!  And we totally fell for it!” Nino groaned.

 

Adrien was first to wrap her in a hug and Alya and Nino soon had her surrounded on all sides.  Marinette tried to reign in her tears from earlier; but now that the tension had past and Lila was exposed, she felt so relieved they just fell freely.

 

“What she was saying was utter garbage, Marinette,” Alya told her.

 

“Please tell me you don’t believe here?” Adrien fretted.  “Wait, did she hurt you? This obviously wasn’t the first time she pulled this, what has she done before?”

 

Alya lost a few tears herself at that.  “I am so sorry, Marinette! You probably didn’t even feel like you were safe to tell us!”

 

Marinette sniffed and tried to smile.  “Thank you for the apology. And, yeah, it might take time to get over the damage Lila did and regain trust.  But I don’t blame you for wanting to believe what she said. I’ll admit, even I was a little jealous of her claims before I started to get suspicious.”

 

Adrien shook his head as their group hug started to break apart.  “I never should have suggested we do nothing about her lies.”

 

“You knew!” Alya screeched.

 

“In your defense,” Marinette interrupted, “I didn’t give you the full picture of what she was capable of.”

 

“Still, I was getting suspicious about her targeting you,” Adrien insisted, “I should have acted sooner.”

 

“I don’t know,” Marinette smirked, “In the end, your approach kind of worked.  We killed her with kindness and she ended up exposing herself.”

 

“Okay, obviously there’s still more that we’re in the dark about,” Alya interjected.  “For now, let’s just make a pact about not letting psychopathic, pathological liars target our friends.”

 

“And if something does come up again,” Marinette added, “let’s promise to all be honest with each other.  If there’s any question of validity--”

 

“Which there shouldn’t have been in the first place,” Adrien interjected.

 

“But if there  _ is _ ,” Marinette stressed, “we can look into the situation together and come up with a plan we can all live with.”

 

“Deal.” Nino agreed and stuck his fist out.

 

All four of them bumped fists just as the doors to the locker room were flung open and more of their classmates poured in.

 

“Get ready for a large dose of Marinette appreciation,” Adrien whispered to Marinette.

 

Marinette blushed and giggled back as she was rushed by more of her friends.


End file.
